Two new bills, S 1310 and H 1165, proposed in the Florida legislature would make posting ANY photo of firearms by minors on social media- or anything resembling a firearm- illegal. The bills were proposed by Democrats. The bills do not contain any reference to threats of violence or dangers of any kind. It’s just about posting pictures… and having the guns in the photos confiscated.

Florida State Senator Jason Pizzo and State Representative Shevrin Jones proposed legislation that would CRIMINALIZE posting photos of a firearm, a nerf gun, or anything resembling a firearm on any public social media account. It provides for the immediate confiscation of said whatchamacallit, and calls for parents to attend “parenting classes” and even do community service with their child.

Under the proposed law, if a minor is caught violating the law, their parents may be forced to take parenting classes or perform community service with their offending child.

The proposed legislation also says “any firearm that is possessed or used by a minor in violation of this section shall be promptly seized by a law enforcement officer and disposed of.”

Under the new law, parents of minors who have been caught posting pictures of firearms could be subject to criminal charges if their children were able to access and photograph their guns because the weapons weren’t properly locked away.

Blatantly Unconstitutional

Now here’s the nitty gritty that obviously Democrats miss (or don’t care): the bill is worded so that if a child’s soldier Dad or Mom has their firearm – even if they are in uniform – and the child posts a photo, the child is in violation of the law and said firearm can be confiscated. Pizzo disputes that, but the wording of the bill is clear that there doesn’t have to be a threat.

If the child goes to the range with their parent and posts a photo, they can be in violation of the law. And the firearm in the photo could be confiscated.

“This is an obvious First Amendment violation: The statute isn’t limited to displays that constitute true threats of violence (there’s a First Amendment exception for such true threats), or possession of guns by minors in violation of state law…Indeed, it would be a crime for a minor to post a photo of himself lawfully using a gun at a shooting range.” University of Southern California – Los Angeles Law Professor Eugene Volokh in Reason.

Pizzo defends his law by saying that it’s only about unlawful possession – but the language of the bill has no such caveat. The bill punishes both the child and the adult and can be used to address perfectly lawful behavior. If the child wants to post a political photo regarding pro-gun or anti-gun sentiments, that, too would be a violation. It’s about “unlawful possession”…of a picture…or “access” to be able to take a photo of a firearm (the ‘safe storage’ part of the bill).

My bill is specifically to address public posting of already unlawful possession. Do you honestly believe that a 14 yr old with a firearm in school cleanses the illegality by posting it on social media because the 1st Amendment provides for that?

Note, the parent in this tweet later remarked that Pizzo’s attempt to “play Orwell” wouldn’t solve a “damn thing.” He’s right. Pizzo attempted to justify the proposal by saying that his bill only addresses illegal possession of firearms by a minor. Not true by the wording.

To make this point clear, @davidhogg111 was 17 in Florida when his friends were killed and his career in gun control activism began.

If this bill had been in effect, Mr. Hogg could have been arrested if he illustrated his tweets with images that contained firearms, which he did.

Parent education classes would be required of any parents whose child was caught in violation of this law. And according to the bill, “community service shall be performed, if possible, in a manner involving a hospital emergency room or other medical environment that deals on a regular basis with trauma patients and gunshot wounds.”

Indoctrination, much? Gun confiscation from a mere photo. And ‘parent education’ sounds an awful like a Communist “re-education” class. It is in violation of both the 1st and 2nd Amendments. This egregious bill must be stopped – if you live in Florida, stop the madness before it’s too late!

I'm a published author of 3 in-print creative nonfiction books: Dog Paw Chronicles- Life Journeys, Whispers of Heaven, and Bobby Convict - I've written numerous short stories in anthologies, blogs and editorials. I've been working at Uncle Sam's Misguided Children since 2013. I have two degrees in Criminal Justice and worked for over 31 years at a local police department. I am a patriotic American.

I don’t see any issue with taking the guns off anyone who allows their kid to post it on social media. I understand that there is a lot of minors that know how to use and hold a gun correctly. But the idea of some little kid posting himself holding a gun I don’t think is the right image to be showing on the likes of FB. So unless I see another reason why this bill shouldn’t go into effect, I’ll 100% back it..

iOS like to see how the first contest to this be a kid posting a picture of his Army dad wearing his pistol standing with his crewmen beside their M1 tank. Let’s see the try “confiscating” those weapoms! OR some kid posting a picture of herself with her police officer mom. Try that one. STUPID BILL!

Because the social media police will be arresting everyone who has a photo of their kid on their first deer hunt, or standing next to a family member who is a police officer in uniform. Photographs are protected by the first amendment printed on paper or shared online makes no difference.